The San Francisco 49ers are bringing back Robert Saleh to fix their defense. His familiarity with HC Kyle Shanahan from his first stint with the team (2017-2020) and the team’s readiness to let Saleh have a say in reorganizing a defense that finished 29th in points per game allowed (25.6) made it easy. “When it comes to finding players, this organization does a phenomenal job with collaboration,” Saleh had opined. But is the team botching exactly that?

Here’s the thing: Last season’s 6-11 face plant saw the defense crumble from championship-caliber to outright unrecognizable. After all, they were tied for seventh-fewest takeaways with 17, and gave up 40+ points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2015. Plus, the injury report read like a laundry list: Dre Greenlaw’s Super Bowl Achilles tear and Brandon Aiyuk’s Week 7 ACL disaster are some memorable examples. By Christmas, the unit looked like survivors of a particularly brutal football tournament. And that’s where their front office’s curious calculus doesn’t add up.

Instead of retaining their defensive identity, the 49ers lost some of their key pieces. Dre Greenlaw. Ask anyone from the Faithful, and they’d go on and on about the player, but he is in Denver now. Then, Talanoa Hufanga, their instinctive All-Pro safety, also left for Denver. Charvarius Ward? He will be suiting up for the Colts in the 2025 season. And if we were to believe rumors, all these departures might be connected to GM John Lynch.

‘NFL Rumors’ wrote on X: “#49ers John Lynch, one INSIDER says, is under fire for missing re-signing LB Dre Greenlaw, S Talanoa Hufanga, and CB Chavarius Ward. Greenlaw and Hufanga went to the #Broncos, and Ward went to the #Colts.” However, let us not forget that the team also parted ways with Javon Hargrave, Maliek Collins, and Leonard Floyd. So to address all these losses, the team also invested in three draft picks: Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins, and CJ West.

The three rookies will join Nick Bosa and Bryce Huff in order to revitalize the pass rush and run defense that struggled last season.

But the timing of these defensive departures couldn’t be more awkward. Just as Brock Purdy prepares to play under his new $265 million contract, the defense that once covered his growing pains is being systematically dismantled. There’s an undeniable irony in paying your quarterback elite money while stripping away the very unit that helped make him successful. Back in Feb., the GM admitted that they were looking for younger players, but of course, it goes without saying that the less experienced ones will also come cheaper.

The 49ers’ high-stakes experiment is an interesting case. A complete defensive reboot with more questions than answers. They’ve swapped proven commodities for draft picks and hope, and now they are betting Saleh can work miracles with what they have. This might end up looking like genius move in hindsight or like the front office fumbled a championship window.

What happens to Kyle Shanahan’s defense after John Lynch’s decisions?

The 49ers’ defensive makeover is shaping up to be their riskiest move in years. John Lynch’s much-touted future flexibility has left the cupboard surprisingly bare… A shaky safety tandem. A cobbled-together secondary. And linebackers so thin that Fred Warner might need to play both ways. Their grand plan? Banking on eleven rookies to grow up fast, which doesn’t sound too reliable.

Over on the defensive line, coach Kris Kocurek is feeling positive about all the new faces. He’s calling it “fresh blood,” though replacing veterans like Hargrave with rookies Williams and Collins feels more like a gamble than a strategy. The Bryce Huff trade could help the pass rush, but let’s just say his transition from Philly’s system might take longer than the 49ers would like. Kyle Shanahan, to his credit, isn’t sugarcoating the loss of leaders like Greenlaw and Hufanga. After all, they brought more than just talent to the locker room. But there’s only so much nostalgia can do when you’re staring down $86 million in dead money and a defense that looks like it’s barely holding together.

Now comes the million-dollar question (or should we say $265 million, given Purdy’s contract): Can this offense outscore opponents while the defense learns on the job? The 49ers seem convinced their draft picks will develop faster than expected. It’s a bold strategy—one that could either make Lynch look like a visionary or have everyone wondering why they didn’t just keep the band together. What do you think?